Pune railway saves over a crore by using solar power

Railway officials said the savings were made by using LED fittings at stations, solar-run UPS systems at reservation centres and solar water heaters in the ‘running rooms’ at Miraj and Ghorpadi to reduce the use of conventional electricity.

The Pune Division of the Indian Railways has saved Rs 1.45 crore in electricity bills in 2017 by using solar energy at its stations, reservation centres and workshops.

Railway officials said the savings were made by using LED fittings at stations, solar-run UPS systems at reservation centres and solar water heaters in the ‘running rooms’ at Miraj and Ghorpadi to reduce the use of conventional electricity. The division has saved 14.54 lakh units of electricity, officials said.

Milind Deouskar, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Pune, said, “Pune division is serious about saving energy and effective steps are being taken in this direction. This has been possible after replacing traditional lights with LED and solar-powered devices and using solar-powered equipment in other places. The Pune division has saved Rs 1.45 crore after using solar energy.”

“Two solar power generation plants have been installed at Pune Railway Station with a capacity of 160 KW capacity with the financial help of Persistent Foundation. Apart from this, lights and fans are also being run on the Daundaj Station with 10 KW capacity,” said Deouskar.

He said an ‘Energy Performance Agreement’ was signed with Energy Efficiency Services Ltd for power saving. “Under this, conventional light fittings, fans and ACs in the stations and offices will be replaced by the new star-rated energy equipment. This is proposed to save about 7.31 lakh Kwh units and it will save Rs 61.35 lakh annually as revenue,” he said.